Fated
by dreamscapenymph
Summary: She hated him with a passion. He didn't know she existed until a few days ago. Now he is intrigued by her, but she still hates him. But all that is going to change for how many more times, for they were fated for each other, such was Clow Reed's plan. OH
1. Chapter 1

AN: I haven't edited much, just the grammar and some spellings. Go on if you want to read. –smiles-

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS.

Fated

Chapter 1

Three minutes after the first bell rang Kinomoto Sakura hurried towards her science class. She had come from math, and as all math classes were, this one also dismissed late. She sighed. She had hated math ever since, with every bone in her body. She just couldn't seem to get why these people wanted something so systematic, so routine-like. It was all very boring that it never got her attention from the very start, and probably never will.

_Well, off to science._ She thought. Now this was the class that she loved. She loved that they were able to hypothesize and theorize, and think out all of the steps carefully, in order, until they had found the correct answer. Science allowed her to think and analyze, so unlike the brainless computing called math applications.

Standing outside the door to her classroom, she took a deep breath. If there was one thing she hated, it was that the classroom was air conditioned. People might think it weird, but she hates the cold.

Outside she may look like a nobody, with a plain face wearing glasses, a girl wearing plain clothes and looking just like any other girl in Tokyo University. There was no way anyone would notice her. That was what she wanted—plain Sakura, but discreet. How discreet? Well, for one thing, she was smart. At seventeen years old, she was one of the few people on the scholarship program in the university. Nobody else knew, except the few close friends she had. Her family is poor, but she still persevered on putting herself through college. Perhaps the fact that they are poor could explain why she has a freakish aversion to air-conditioning.

Sakura went inside the big classroom and counted the seats to her own. Sitting down, she put on her jacket and crossed her fingers, hoping that she had gotten the numbers right. If she was wrong, the whole row would have to stand up and move because of her. She hated all the attention she would get if that happened.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Her best friend Tomoyo greeted her. Daidouji Tomoyo was her second cousin and best friend. When Sakura was accepted to the university, Tomoyo literally begged for her mother to enter her in the same school. As it turned out, none of it was necessary since her mother had planned for her to go to Tokyo U, too. The daughter of a rich president of a toy company was not to be let down when she requested that she be with her best friend during college.

"Hey there, Tomoyo-chan. Did I get the seats right?" Sakura greeted her friend, looking anxiously at her.

"Yes you did," Tomoyo gave her a brief smile, before the teacher had ordered the class to settle down.

As the new lesson started, Sakura listened attentively to the teacher, blocking out all of the sounds. All of the sounds that is, except for one guy's voice.

"Hey, dude, my eye and head really hurts. That stupid ball hitting me in the eye really hurts. I ended up vomiting all night last night."

Sakura drew a withering breath and concentrated profusely at the teacher.

"Dude, I couldn't even get a wink of sleep last night! Stupid ball."

Sakura sighed. _Oh well._ She really couldn't understand why she couldn't shut out his voice. Li Syaoran's voice.

Li Syaoran was one of the ace players in the university's soccer team. He was good at sports, and people say he does martial arts too. He's smart, too, judging by the high grades he got on math and related subjects. _On computing_, Sakura thought, wrinkling her nose with distaste. He was rich and also very good-looking. Many fan girls were throwing themselves all over him every day, and he took that to his advantage—his name has been linked to a dozen pretty girls. Sakura didn't know if these were true. Tomoyo had said no, though. Where she got the information Sakura could only wonder. Li Syaoran was perfect…well, almost. He was smart, handsome, and talented BUT he was very arrogant. He knew that he possessed all of the above characteristics thus he was very confident, proud and arrogant. That's why Sakura hated him.

Well, that was after she got over her crush on him. _I mean, he is cute and smart, and a soccer player. What else could a girl look for?_ The year before, she had only settled for subtle glances at him. A month before, she was very happy to learn that he was her science classmate. And that he sat at her back in their elevated auditorium-like classroom. _I thought I had died and gone to heaven,_ she thought sarcastically, mentally rolling her eyes at her past oh-so-gullible self. That was before she learned of his dominant attitude problem.

"Dude, the feet really hurt." Li Syaoran spoke again.

Sakura rolled her eyes heavenward and edged forward on her seat, leaning towards the direction of the teacher.

------

"Hey everybody! I'm home!" Sakura called out to as she took off her shoes and went inside her modest house. Amazing that the one hour commuting time it took her to arrive didn't seem to dampen her spirit. Li Syaoran did, she noted to herself.

"Hi home!" She heard Kero call out.

"Oh? 'Nii-chan and 'Tou-san aren't home yet?" Sakura asked the talking yellow stuffed toy, who was hovering in the air above her.

"Nope!" Kero answered. "Well? Do you have it?"

"Have what?" Sakura blinked at him innocently.

"Sakura!" Kero whined, "My chocolate cake!"

Sakura laughed as she reached for her bag and produced a slice of chocolate cake in a plastic container.

"Thank you!" Kero snatched it from her hands and dropped onto the kitchen table, munching away on the cake.

Sakura shook her head, "You are hopeless with sweets, Kero. Your cakes take up almost a third of my weekly allowance!" She laughed. There was no response, since the Guardian of the Clow was busily eating his afternoon treat.

Sakura was the Card Mistress, who wielded magic in the form of Sakura Cards. Once, they had been called the Clow Cards, but when she had converted all of them into Sakura Cards five years ago, they were hers. She was now the most powerful sorcerer, albeit the only people who actually knew her magical abilities were…Tomoyo-chan, her self-proclaimed costume designer and video person, Kero, who was the one who had introduced her to the Clow, and Yue, the other Guardian, whose false form was actually her brother's best friend, Yukito, and Sakura's first love. There was no one else…but sometimes she had a feeling that her big brother, Touya, was very suspicious of her actions.

She was now in her second year of university, and as mentioned before, on a scholarship. She was smart, and she had applied for scholarships on various schools, and finally settling down on one university. Her family was poor, and that was the reason why she was happy that she had a scholarship—she didn't want to burden her father, Fujitaka, just like her brother who also worked odd jobs every free time to support himself through college.

Sakura puttered around the kitchen, getting dinner ready.

At school, nobody knew she possessed magic, much like they never knew that she was being educated by _their _money. She was a nobody at university, and that fit her just fine. She could concentrate on her studies, since keeping her grades up wasn't very easy. _Perhaps the reason why they ignore me is that I am so plain?_ She wondered. Everyday she would just wear baggy pants, a shirt and rubber shoes. Her auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing no make-up unlike the majority of the girls in the school, she was the epitome of the average student. Not too nerdy-looking, but then not eye-catching either. She had even added glasses to the formula, but then nothing really changed. _Suits me fine._ She thought.

That's why her only close acquaintance was Tomoyo, and she was very happy that Tomoyo had decided to follow her to Tokyo U. Stunning Tomoyo, with her long raven hair and amethyst eyes would disagree with what she was thinking now, "But you are pretty, Sakura-chan! If you would just lose the fake glasses—yes, Sakura-chan I know they are fake—let down your hair and try to wear more variety the world would see how pretty you are!" Sakura chuckled. They both knew each other too well that sometimes it was almost scary.

Later, Sakura sighed as she looked at the wide array of costumes Tomoyo had made for her years ago. _That's when I was from ten to twelve. I'm seventeen now, and they wouldn't fit. Cute Sakura-chan has evolved into drab Sakura. But I don't care,_ she thought, trying to convince herself as she looked longingly at the few skirts, dresses, and nice tops she had all bought on impulse. She shoved them at the back of her closet. _It's not like I will wear them again anyway._

------

"Good afternoon, Syaoran-sama." An elderly man bowed once Syaoran stepped inside the Lis' massive mansion.

"Afternoon, Wei." Syaoran said absently as he walked forward, Eriol at his heels.

"But I still don't get why you allow the rumors to circulate when they are not the least bit true." Eriol said, still hot at the topic they had discussed earlier at the car.

Syaoran sighed, "That's the best way I can actually stop the rumors from happening. I do not want fan girls throwing themselves at me. Much too disgusting. I'd rather have rumors saying I play girls than that. I'd take rumors over the real thing any day."

"But then why the uber-ly arrogant attitude on display?" Eriol persisted.

"That's also to keep the girls away." Syaoran answered, exasperated. _And to keep my mother from having the false notion that I like somebody. If she finds out I do, she is going to be arranging a marriage as soon as possible. IF there was somebody in the first place._

Li Syaoran, 17, was the heir to the Li Clan, a powerful family recognized locally and abroad. They were very rich, not to mention that their family line was ingrained with magic, which was a well-kept secret. His mother was hell-bent on making sure that he was going to be the actual heir that she wanted him married as soon as possible—a strict requirement for heirs. _But I am only seventeen!_ Syaoran thought. He did not want to be married while he was in his teens. He still had a lot to go! That was why he set up a reputation at school—spreading rumors about being an arrogant player, being linked to many girls, so that the female population would always think he was attached, but in truth he was not. The students at his university caught it like wildfire. Two weeks later, he no longer had to make appearances with many girls; he just sat back and let the rumors spread on their own, even without his scheming. Of course the arrogant attitude was still there—Eriol had once commented that about two-thirds of that 'display' was not cooked up. Syaoran had contemplated on it for a moment and decided that perhaps it was true.

Luckily his mother hadn't resorted to arranging a marriage…YET. He shuddered to think about what he had to do once she finally decided that he was going to be married. At least now, she still had the respect to just wait for him to find a girlfriend, and then probably prod him to death to propose to her, whoever she might be. _IF there was a girlfriend._ He thought again.

At his university, where he was one of the players of the soccer team, girls fawned all over him, supposedly because he had good looks, was talented and smart. Basically, Syaoran thought they were all fakes who only fawned over having the idea of him, not him. He didn't want to think about what might have happened if he hadn't thought about starting the rumors and had been ensnared by some random girl. Probably by now he'd be married, but never happy.

------

_Science again! _Sakura thought happily as she entered the classroom. She was always there first, but now was different. As she peeked into the glass in the door, she saw a lone guy sitting in the room. After debating with herself whether to go in or not, she pushed the door open…and gulped.

It was Li Syaoran. Sitting at his seat in the back row, near the center, he had his earphones plugged. His head was lolling on the back of his chair and his eyes were closed. _Sleeping,_ Sakura thought, _arrogant git_. Walking towards her seat, shuffling her feet noisily, she put down her bag and books with a loud PLOP!, hoping to wake him up, just for the purpose of annoying him.

He began to snore.

Choking back a laugh, Sakura coughed. Nothing. She coughed once more, louder. Now that got his attention.

Startled by a sharp sound, Syaoran woke up. He hadn't slept the night before because soccer practice ended late and he had to study for a test the following day. Pulling the earplugs to his ear he found the source of the sound. The girl who sat in front of him every science class was the one who had…coughed, apparently. He only saw her back, but was sure that it was her, because there was no one else in the room. A second later the door opened and in came his friends, followed by their other classmates and the teacher.

"Yo, dude!" They greeted him.

"Yo." He answered back, his mind on other things. He still couldn't decide on whether to be annoyed at the girl because she had woken him up or to be thankful because she had saved him from the humiliation of having his friends see his past position.

Shaking the confused feeling off, he turned to his friends as they began their daily bashing and complaining about everything else under the sun. Secretly, he was sick of it, and the only reason he could put up with it was that Eriol could, too. He definitely wasn't going to lose to his best friend, when in the first place, it was he who had suggested that they fabricate the false reputations they had today.

------

After class, Tomoyo regarded her best friend with laughing eyes, "Why do you hate him so much? I thought he was your crush before."

"Aren't you also irritated? I mean, he and his friends never listen to the teacher, they just gossip. Men gossiping, how freaky. And the teacher has a doctorate for heaven's sake! He is in a level much higher than them, why won't they respect him? Because he thinks he's smart and all that?!" Sakura began to rant.

"Now, now, Sakura-chan, calm down." Tomoyo started soothingly, grinning a bit, patting her friend's arm.

"Don't you notice it, too, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura turned to her friend, her eyes blazing.

"Of course I notice it. I just don't let it get to me too much." Tomoyo glanced sideways at her, "Though I don't get the fact that you, who has always been so calm and composed, seem to be so combustible when it comes to him. I mean, when people do bad things to you, you just ignore them. But with him, you rant. Every after science you rant to me."

"Of course! Why wouldn't I rant about it when there's too much to rant about?" Sakura said, flailing her arms in the air, ignoring the looks of passers-by. "Do you remember the foot?" She hissed.

"Yes, I remember the foot," Tomoyo said dryly. _Here we go again, _she thought.

"Very well!" Sakura went on, not really hearing Tomoyo. "He said, 'Dude, my feet smell.' Then his friend said 'Really? I can't smell.' Dumb, dumb, dumb friend. Then he said 'Blow on it.' And the stupid friend blew on it. And of course, since we were at their front and we were just so _lucky_ that the layout of the classroom was elevated, thus we were below him and of course his feet and We. Could. Smell. His. Stinky. Feet. Oh I felt so very happy then," Her voice was practically dripping with sarcasm. "I just wish we could use that as blackmail on him. Everyone should know that Li Syaoran's foot smells. But has there been any gadget that records the smell? I am going to invent one, but then what use will it be after? Will we hope that his feet will smell again? He is just plain GROSS."

"Sakura, you are beginning to rant again." Tomoyo stated in a rather calm voice.

Sakura drew a breath and expelled it, trying to calm herself. "Yes, why is it that I always get so worked out because of him? I really hate him."

"Sakura—." Tomoyo began.

But she was interrupted by Sakura's exclamation of "Food!" In a few moments Sakura was no longer beside Tomoyo. When she glanced around, she found her friend quite happily looking at the display of donuts in the food booth they just passed.

"Sakura." She said when she caught up. "There you are. You know, you should stop being down and then up in a matter of seconds."

"I told you I think I have bipolar disorder." Sakura reminded her casually while she was paying for two chocolate donuts.

"How can you be sure?" Tomoyo eyed her skeptically.

"Well, I have taken basic psychology, you know, and the only explanation for being 'down and then up in a matter of seconds' would be a bipolar disorder." Sakura stated matter-of-factly.

Tomoyo sighed at her friend's stubbornness.

------

"Syaoran, have you ever thought of having a girlfriend?" Yelan, Syaoran's mother, asked him during dinner one night.

"No mother, I am too busy with soccer practice and school to look for a girlfriend." He answered, successful in draining the ice from his voice.

"Well, I have heard that you are quite popular in your school, and I think that all you'd have to do is look for a girl that suits your taste then ask her out and then everything will be okay in a matter of months." Yelan said in a clear voice.

Syaoran emitted a faint sigh. "No thank you, mother. As I have told you before, I am too busy with everything else." He stood up, "If you'll excuse me." Then he left.

Later, Eriol strolled into his room, "You were rude."

"Yes, I know. But I had to do it or else she won't stop."

"What if you just followed her, got a girlfriend, married her and then got on with your life?" Eriol said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"You know that 'life' will never be the same. I'll either get a girl who is shy and jumpy around me, or a slut who'd nag and demand every minute of my attention." Syaoran retorted.

"I'd rather choose the shy one, then. At least she is more gullible," Eriol mused. Then as an afterthought he added, "You are too full of yourself."

In answer to that comment Syaoran threw a notebook at him and Eriol, without so much as a batting of an eyelash, sent it flying back to Syaoran. Syaoran dodged in time and the notebook hit the wall on top of his bed.

"Sometimes I forget that you are the reincarnation of Clow Reed." Syaoran glared at Eriol.

"Half," Eriol corrected.

"Still. You are the half reincarnation of Clow Reed. You are my best friend, or at least we think we are. Why wouldn't you tell us where the Card Mistress is?" Syaoran asked, a bit frustrated at a topic debated at for years. Ever since he was ten, when they had heard that the Clow Cards were unsealed and that someone else was capturing them, the Li Clan was adamant on searching for whom she was, so that they could capture the cards, too. It would have been very easy, for they had two assets—Hiiragizawa Eriol, the half-reincarnation of Clow Reed, and Clow Reed's lasin board, which could pinpoint the direction of anyone using Clow's magic. But the 'asset' became a 'liability' since Eriol would not tell them where she was, and had hid the lasin board. Seven years ago, the only thing ten-year-old Eriol would tell them was that the one capturing the cards was a 'she' and that they should not interfere. Two years later, he told them that the girl is now officially the Card Mistress. Still, though, he wouldn't give them back the lasin board. What irked Syaoran more was that had Eriol told them who she was and if he had told them where the cards were, the Clan would have sent Syaoran to retrieve the cards. The mere thought that he could have a chance at capturing the cards and that the Mistress was a girl and had the same age as him made him harbor resentment at her, whoever she was.

"Because it would disrupt fate." Eriol said simply. "Even though I am just a half of Clow Reed, not the whole, I also possess powers, and when my instinct tells me what I must do, I follow it, believing that it was what Clow had intended me to do. That's the reason why I am here, too. I did not just merely appear on your doorstep eight years ago, as what your mother might have told you. And I was right to believe my instincts." He stood up and turned to leave. Just as he was nearing the door, with his back to Syaoran, he said, "Besides, I wouldn't want to endanger my half-daughter's life and interfere with her destiny."

The lock to Syaoran's bedroom door clicked and that was when Syaoran blinked, processing all of the things Eriol had said. Standing abruptly he ran outside the door, to the hallway and shouted, "Who do you mean by your half-daughter?! And why the hell are you young?!"

But Eriol was gone.

------

In the privacy of his room, Eriol petted a black stuffed toy, who apparently was sleeping, because of its heavy breathing. A knock on the door was heard, and a woman in her early twenties, wearing the Li Clan uniform for helpers, appeared through the door.

Nudging the black stuffed toy awake, Eriol nodded at it and the woman. "Its nearly time to wake them up. Nearly time."

------

The next day, at Sakura's science class, Tomoyo was absent, because she had to cram a paper due today. Resting her head on her right hand, Sakura frowned. _It's going to be a long day…_

The teacher was distributing the requirements for their group reporting.

"Please pass to the back." Someone in front of her mumbled, giving her a piece of paper.

Naturally, she accepted the paper and passed it…to the person directly at her back, Li Syaoran. _And naturally, being the arrogant git that he is, he just stared at it._ She thought, rising anger replacing the frustration she felt against the guy.

"What's that?" She heard him ask. Sakura refused to neither answer him nor even make eye contact. Instead, she turned to the teacher, who motioned for him to take the paper and pass it. So he did.

It took every ounce of her practiced self-control to stop herself from finally making eye contact with him and smirk at him. Instead, she settled back at her seat, an eyebrow and her chin rising a bit in self-satisfaction. _Suits you, male counterpart of a prima donna. Ugh._

Later, the teacher asked a question that the class couldn't seem to answer. They were all just tossing around random words but their teacher wanted the specific word. Even Sakura started to participate. The loud boys at the back were all shouting and laughing all over again. She saw the teacher getting aggravated that he even began to act out the word using his hands. Then…

"Ah! I know that," she heard someone from the back say. It was Li Syaoran. It seemed that she was the only one who heard it because she was near him. Sakura sighed again; _I really cannot shut him out._ Then, in a louder voice she heard him announce to the class, "Connection!"

There was a momentary lull before the whole male population in the class began to erupt in laughter. Sakura felt her shoulders convulse in silent, helpless, horrified laughter along with them.

------

Embarrassed, Syaoran folded his arms in front of his chest and settled back on his seat. He had never been this embarrassed before, laughed at by the whole class. No, that was wrong, by all of the guys in the room. The girls were more aghast by the fact that he was being laughed at, and they were loyal enough to refrain from joining in. He smirked, thinking, _I own the female population._ He continued on smirking, that is, before he saw that on his front a girl's shoulders were shaking silently. _Because of laughter, I presume?_ He thought.

He frowned. All of the girls hadn't laughed, _except for this one_. This was the first time that a girl from school had laughed at him, albeit silently. Then he realized with a jolt that she was also the one who had passed a sheet of paper earlier to him. That was also the first time a girl ever refused to make eye contact with him. Mostly they were very eager to see him. He had thought that all of the rumors he had made would render him invincible to the girl population but he was wrong—there was one who could resist him, one who was immune to him.

In fact, now that he remembered, she hadn't even bothered to look at his face. Now that was entirely different! According to experience, every time he would pass by, girls would be clamoring over for glimpses of him. _Well, others tried to do it subtly but still I could notice, it's not as If I'm blind!_ But this girl was different from everyone else. Syaoran was unnerved by this new discovery—he had found a girl that wasn't all over him. Resolving to keep an eye on that girl, he leaned back further on his seat, trying to look unperturbed. Yet inside he was very confused. He wasn't angry with her because she laughed at him, he realized, just intrigued by her, because she was different from all of the girls he knew.

Eriol, who was his seatmate, watched Syaoran from the corner of his eye and smirked.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS.

Fated

Chapter 2

_This is weird_, Sakura thought to herself. That was the third time she had seen Li Syaoran in school. In one day. And for this week, perhaps it was the seventh. She seemed to pass by him often. _Stalker?_ Sakura laughed at the thought. If there was someone whom the school would accuse of stalking, between the two of them it was Sakura. But then it was highly unlikely. Once more she laughed to herself.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo materialized beside her. "Laughing to yourself?"

"Told you I'm crazy, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura said, still shaking with laughter.

Tomoyo raised a brow, eyeing her, "Okay, what is it, spill!" She commanded.

"It's just that I always seem to bump into Li Syaoran this past week! Seven times! And three times this day!" Sakura continued to laugh, "And at the third time, he also seemed to notice that we pass by each other often. I mean, I didn't look, but I swear that the third time we passed by each other that he was looking at me with that weirded out look in his face!"

"It was so funny! The school would think that I would be the one stalking him not the other way around. And to think that that is HIGHLY unlikely—on both accounts!" She continued, hysterics overcoming her. "Oh my gosh, Tomoyo-chan I'm actually crying because of laughter!" She said, brushing tears from her eyes.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes as she attempted to calm down Sakura, and then giving her a piece of reality. "Sakura-chan, don't you think that because you've counted the times when you've seen him would be enough proof that you're obsessed with him?"  
Sakura snorted, obviously calming down. "Yeah right," she announced sarcastically.

Tomoyo sighed, leaving the subject alone for a while.

------

_That's weird._ Syaoran thought to himself. That was the seventh time he had seen the girl who had laughed at him in science class. And the third time that day. _Stalker much_? He thought to himself dryly, used to these things. But then that seemed to be totally out of her character—she laughed at him, then she stalked him? Seems contradictory. _Coincidence, perhaps._ He shrugged it off and walked forward. He was about to turn a corner when he heard quiet laughter behind him. Turning around, he saw the girl leaning on the wall, a hand covering her mouth, shaking with…laughter. Occasionally she would stop, then would laugh again, her eyes overly bright. That was then that Syaoran concluded that she was just crazy—prone to hysterics. Again he was about to turn around when he heard her say to her friend (who had just shown up) "Told you I'm crazy, Tomoyo-chan."

_True, true. _He thought to himself. Using the corner, he hid himself, but still overhearing their conversation, intrigued by the girl…when he heard his name. _Yeah, right, Syaoran, next time try to listen to your second intuitions,_ he thought, listening in, and becoming quite surprised when he heard the actual bulk of the conversation.

He was flabbergasted at the level of sarcasm of the tone she had used to say "Yeah, right," when her friend had asked her if she was obsessed with him.

He laughed, shaking his head that he had actually resorted to eavesdropping; he was resolute on finding out more about her, the intriguing girl who was the most unique he had seen so far. They weren't even introduced; heck he didn't even know her name! But even at that distance she was already capable of evoking various reactions from him.

He walked on, seeing that she had already left with her friend, humming an unknown tune quietly.

------

Starting that day he began to look forward to his science classes, just to find out who the mystery girl was. All that he knew was that she had long auburn hair cascading down her back that she always tied up in a quite messy ponytail. Whenever class started, she would lean forward on her seat, listening intently to the teacher and only returning to lean back again whenever she would copy notes. And boy, how she copied many notes! He found himself a bit annoyed by her constant leaning forward and backward, but what amused him to no end was that when she did write something in her notebook, it was as if she was frantically trying to write all of the words in her head before she lost them. She always turned her notebook this way and that, and one day, Syaoran couldn't resist the urge of not knowing what things she wrote, so he leaned over. He shouldn't have been surprised, really, to discover many arrows and parentheses, even brackets and braces. It appeared that the girl employed math during science? He had to chuckle at that thought.

She was also very talkative, he observed, but only before and after the start of classes. She would talk to her seatmate, her friend, he deduced, by their closeness and by the way she would nod or her shoulders would sometimes shake in quiet laughter at what her friend said. Often, though, she would be the one making her friend laugh. He had seen her friend's face many times, now, but never hers. _Does she deliberately refuse to look at the back?_

Then one day he got his chance to see her face. It was by pure luck that her row had stood up before his did, before his friends had motioned for him to follow them out through the door. Usually, they were the first ones out, since the other guys didn't like the subject. But now they stood up late, apparently because they were cramming for a test this afternoon. _It's all for my advantage_, he thought, as the girl stood up after her friend. Eager but then trying not to show it, he nonchalantly looked at the teacher at the front, all the while trying to get a glimpse of her face. All he got was a side profile that lasted for about two seconds, though, before the girl also looked at the front. Frustrated, Syaoran settled back on his seat, frowning.

Then he heard a peal of laughter from his side, and his head unconsciously whipped to the direction of the sound, quite sure that it was his mystery girl who was laughing. And indeed she was, but then, he still hadn't gotten even a good glance at her face, that was turned away as she was facing her friend.

Syaoran frowned. _So much for my fortunate chances._

------

It was on the next week that he finally, finally got a good look at her face.

It was the end of class, and as he went out of the door to leave, he noticed that someone was also going out of the door. Remembering his manners, he went back and tossed the door open once more. He glanced at the person and saw that it was _her. _Maybe she hadn't noticed that he had opened it again, because her own hand was also on the door, and she was arranging the books she held. Or maybe not, for her head slowly rose up, looking for the person who had opened the door, a faint smile on her face, ready to thank whoever it was. When her eyes landed on him though, the thankful glint in her eyes and the creases on the sides were lost. Instead, all he got was a tiny, forced smile, a nod, and an impersonal "Thank you," before she turned away to walk towards her friend.

Confused, Syaoran had been left ogling at the space she had occupied. _Now that was the third of the unlikeliest and most different reactions she had given me, _he thought, before he was called back to reality by his friends. It was after a while that he realized that he had now seen her face. Quite plain, really, at the first glance, but when he had taken his second look he saw that her eyes were of a striking emerald color. And when she smiled…it was as if her whole face lit up. Her eyes would twinkle and crinkle, her cheekbones would rise, and the small, shy smile she would give…except that for that one moment, it seemed that she wasn't the least bit eager to give him that smile. She had genuinely smiled when she didn't see that the one who held the door open was him, but when she saw him—it was as if the life had gone from her eyes, and the smile she gave was very forced, no other changes in her face except the slightest widening of her lips. Syaoran sighed.

"You've been sighing many times, now, I've noticed." Eriol said, falling in step beside Syaoran.

Syaoran's head jerked at the sound of his voice, he hadn't noticed Eriol beside him for his mind was occupied somewhere else. "None of your business." He snapped.

Eriol smirked.

"And stop reading my mind." Syaoran said, walking faster, to get away from Eriol.

Eriol's smirk turned into a grin as he followed his 'descendant.'

------

Sakura was disturbed. Why was it that every time she stood up after science class she would see him? Wasn't it enough that she could always hear his annoying comments every day? Does she also have to see him every after class?! That has happened for three days now. Every time, she would just deliberately turn her head away so that she wouldn't see his face and thus annoy her more. _There was a time when I would have given a lot just to see glimpses of his face, but now, sorry NO! Where is Tomoyo when I want to complain to her?!?!_

And what had happened earlier? Did he actually have manners? _Nah, _Sakura thought, _those were just instinctive and routine-like acts. Have to live up to his reputation you know_. Sakura thought, rolling her eyes upward.

She had been so disappointed to find that the gentleman who held the door open for her just did it because it was deep-rooted in him to do so. _But then why had he stayed? In fact, he still stayed in the same spot even after I had left. _She saw that his eyes had widened quite a bit when he saw her. _Perhaps gawking at my plainness. _She sighed. _Even though he had left after class, he still returned to toss the door open once more. Ah! Why do I complicate things when I know that he's just acting mechanically?! But still…_

"Sakura-chan? What happened in science again?" She heard Tomoyo say from her back.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed.

"It must be something very serious, seeing as you were too busy contemplating about it that you totally ignored me!" Tomoyo teased her friend.

"No! No, Tomoyo-chan. It's just…" Sakura began.

"Just?"

"Hemighthavemanners." Sakura said in one breath.

Tomoyo understood what she meant. But then she grinned and said, "What was that, Sakura-chan? I didn't quite catch that."

"He might have manners." Sakura said slowly. Then she proceeded to tell Tomoyo what had happened.

"Oh?" Tomoyo said when Sakura finished, biting back another wayward grin from her face.

"Oh?" Sakura repeated, quite confused at her best friend's reaction. "Oh?" She said again, but Tomoyo had already walked on. Sakura, feeling blank and confused, just followed her, muttering, "Shouldn't she have a more intelligent answer than 'oh?'?"

------

Well, he had accomplished the first step—he had finally seen her face yesterday. _Now, to know her name._ That didn't seem like a daunting feat, and Syaoran set himself to move this day. But apparently, his luck was against him again, as he did everything he could—leaning casually over her notes, trying hard to overhear her conversation with her best friend—but he couldn't even get her first name. She and her best friend never called each other by their names; he noticed that all they would do would be to nudge each other and whisper, or gesture with their eyebrows. _They never called each other verbally_, Syaoran realized with much frustration. _Why won't the teacher do graded recitation and call us one by one?!?!_

As the days went by and he still didn't have any idea as to what her name is, he began to like the enigma of her. Often, in his mind, he would refer to her as just 'the girl' or 'his mystery girl.' He would always be excited for science class, though he was still subtle about it. After science he would linger, so that he could catch a few glimpses of her face and her arresting green eyes. When he wasn't in class, he would always crane his neck and look about every so often to see if she was around. Slightly aware that he was beginning to become a obsessed with her, he began to do his actions subtly, but he couldn't ignore the knowing glint in Eriol's eyes whenever he would sweep his gaze around them.

Of course Eriol didn't know. Syaoran wouldn't admit to anybody that he was fascinated with the girl, not even to Eriol. He didn't know what Eriol might do with that information if he possessed it, and he didn't want to think about it.

So Syaoran continued to look out for her, and to gather the few tidbits of information that he could while he was near her. He was happy with his position in the class, and he wouldn't trade his seat even for his life.

------

Syaoran grinned. He had seen her twice today, aside from their science class, which was now. The first time was when he was with his pair in a project, Kana, who was quite the slutty girl. She had walked past them, and he couldn't stop turning his head to stare at her. Perhaps she had noticed that he was looking at her, since she kept her head low, and sped up when she had passed them. He turned back to see that Kana had also stared at her as she went past. Mentally reprimanding himself for being very obvious, and for what those looks may have meant to her, he finished discussing the project with Kana and after ten minutes, got up to leave. He went the same way she went before, and he tried to retrace her steps, but it was all to no avail—he didn't see her again.

The second time was a few hours later, in the afternoon. He was just sitting around with Eriol and his so-called friends, when he saw her. Apparently, she was having trouble with her load of library books, since she looked harassed—her hair was all over her face, her glasses were lopsided and she was biting her lips from the strain. It took every ounce of Syaoran's self-control to stop himself from walking over to her and offer to carry her books. But then he didn't have to control himself for long—because her black-haired friend had arrived and had helped her with the books. Syaoran saw her give her friend a big thankful and relieved smile, and that set him to wondering why she couldn't give that smile to him, too, a few days back. _And I also can't figure out why I just feel her presence whenever she is near. Just like now, for those two times, it's just as if I have the intuition or something, because I just know when she's near. _He set to contemplating that thought silently while he watched her talk animatedly to her friend, gesturing with her arms which were still full of books, laughing every now and then…until he felt a prickling feeling at the back of his neck, as if he was watched…

He turned to see Eriol snickering. Fighting the blush that was threatening to creep on his face, he snapped at Eriol, "What are you laughing about?"

Eriol continued snickering and said vaguely, "Oh, just something highly unusual yet amusing."

Syaoran decided to leave it at that, since he was afraid that further discussion might lead him to spilling the beans he was keeping for two weeks now.

------

Oh how she hated him.

Nothing else would be a perfect description of what she felt. Hate was the best word.

Oh how she hated him.

And the worst was, Tomoyo wasn't helping!

Sakura had told her about the opening the door thing and that she had passed by Li Syaoran earlier, and that she saw him and another girl staring at her as she had passed by. She had sped up and kept her head low; loath to see the sight of him, let alone with a girl. And worse, they were staring at her! _I'm supposed to be plain, transparent, unseen! Why do you keep on looking at me?_ Those were the random thoughts that had occupied her mind as she swept by them.

When she told that to Tomoyo, her best friend had laughed! Tomoyo was actually choking her words with her laughter…and Sakura had the faintest idea of what she was going to say. Tomoyo could not stop laughing, and Sakura was now very sure of what she was going to comment. "Whatever you're going to say Tomoyo-chan don't say it!" Sakura began to plead. "No, don't, please!"

But Tomoyo did say it. "Oh my gosh Sakura-chan the two of you are so meant to be!" She screamed out while laughing so hard that Sakura thought her cousin was going to burst.

"Oh my gosh!" Tomoyo kept on laughing.

Sakura could only smile weakly. "Tomoyo-chan, no." She pleaded. Sakura sighed as Tomoyo just laughed and laughed and laughed. No rational thought or understanding could be put through her hysterical friend now.

------

_Science class_, Syaoran thought eagerly. Apparently his friends did not feel the same way.

"Dude, I don't want to attend his class." One of them exclaimed lazily, draping himself all over a bench.

"Why not?" Syaoran asked nonchalantly, while his right foot was unobtrusively tapping on the floor, a sign that he was growing impatient.

"I just don't wanna."

"Some responsible students you are. Come on!" Syaoran said, glancing at his watch. "We're going to be late!"

"We don't care…" drawled another one.

All the while Eriol had noted this exchange with amusement, and had nevertheless picked up Syaoran's carefully hidden signs of impatience. Deciding to cut in, he said, "If you don't want to go, we're going. Let's go, Syaoran. Bye you guys." He didn't miss the relieved sigh Syaoran had unconsciously released, thus he had to fight from chuckling aloud. _Everything's going fine. Slow, but perfect, _he thought.

At science class, once again he observed that Syaoran dragged his chair a bit forward, and throughout class he kept on craning his neck to see what was going on with the girl in front of him. He would lean forward nonchalantly by squaring his legs, and try to pick up her conversation with her friend. It was a miracle that the auburn-haired girl didn't notice at all—perhaps because she did not turn her head back for even a second all throughout class. Eriol could see that Syaoran was highly disappointed at that.

Near the end of the class, the teacher announced, "Class, next week would be your orals. You have to sign up for a time slot—it will only be for ten minutes. You will be given five statements to defend. Ten minutes before your time you have to come there and pick which of the five statements you will defend. Now remember that this is by pair, but you will not know your pair until the time when the both of you will pick the statement you need to defend. That is, during that 'thinking time' you need to collaborate with your partner about how to present the answer so that both of you will have enough to discuss about and compare notes and answers. The sign up sheets are being passed around now, good luck!"

The bell rang, and the students stood up, murmuring about the 'twist' their insane teacher had given about the orals. Syaoran blinked as he saw that everyone was standing up. He turned to Eriol, who seemed unable to contain his laughter any longer. Syaoran looked at him with questioning eyes and Eriol mouthed, "Later, outside."

They stood up, and with a last glance at the girl, Syaoran looked back, just to see if he could take another look at her face. But no, once more, she was facing her friend, her back to him. Sighing, he followed Eriol.

Outside, in safe distance from the other students getting out of the room, Eriol began to chuckle heartily.

"What?" Syaoran asked, thoroughly annoyed for two reasons—that he did not see the girl's face again, and that Eriol was prone to chuckling for no reason these days.

"You could ask her out you know." Eriol said, calming down.

Syaoran instantly reddened, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Eriol snorted, "Yeah, and your red face says otherwise."

"What are you saying?" Syaoran asked, playing dumb.

Eriol sighed at his friend's stubbornness. "I am talking about the auburn-haired girl who sits in front of you in science."

Syaoran said, sighing and scratching his head. "So now my secret's out. Don't tell the others. Or else that damned 'reputation' will be ruined."

"Yeah, yeah I know. You know, in contrast to your 'reputation' you are so obvious and so pathetic. I mean you don't even know the name of the girl!" Eriol smirked, evading the light punch Syaoran had given him when he had called him pathetic. "You have just been calling her 'the girl' in your mind! Not even 'MY girl'." Eriol ducked once more.

"Oy, stop it." Syaoran scowled. "You're reading my mind without permission again."

"It's just that it's amusing." Eriol grinned.

"Stop grinning!"

"It's fun to tease. Anyway, back to the subject of you being pathetic, why don't you find out her name?"

Syaoran forgot to send another light punch towards Eriol when he was reminded that he still had yet to get her name. "I'm waiting for the right time."

"Yeah right, you're just afraid, because she seems to have an aversion to you."

"It also has something to do with the reputation thing. Hey, you have been spying on me a lot, don't you?" Syaoran eyed him.

"Call it observing." Eriol grinned.

"Yeah, I also don't get why she seems to have an aversion to me. She really seems different from all of the other girls." Syaoran mused.

"She looks rather plain, you know."

"I know, but I still don't get why I'm attracted to her even if she is plain. I think it has something to do with the attitude, and especially her eyes…" Syaoran said, a far-away look in his eyes.

Eriol had to hide a smile, congratulating himself. He coughed, "Well, I don't know, it's up to you to find out." He looked at his watch then added, "Hey, I have to go to my next class. See you." He left with a wave, and then he stopped and looked back at Syaoran.

_Oh and by the way, her name is Kinomoto Sakura. See you next time pathetic lover boy. _Syaoran heard Eriol's voice speaking in his mind and his eyes widened. Eriol smirked again and disappeared into the crowd. _Kinomoto Sakura, Sakura…_Syaoran thought, then, as if remembering what Eriol had just called him he thought once more, _Why that arrogant!_

------

_Kinomoto Sakura. Kinomoto Sakura. Sakura. Cherry blossoms._

Syaoran thought over and over again as he was driving his car back home. _Beautiful name. Common, yet beautiful. _He shook his head, _But she is not common! Who would have ever thought that beneath those glasses and plain exterior there are green eyes so arresting and full of emotions…_And again he shook his head.

"I am thinking like a lovesick moron!" He said aloud, and concentrated on driving.

------

It was the day of the oral exams that Sakura had signed up for. Wringing her hands and arranging her cue cards in order for the nth time around, she waited for 2:00 to come, and for her partner to show up. Hoping feverishly that it was Tomoyo and not some random person she did not know, she glanced at the clock once more.

2:00.

2:01. Where the hell was her partner? The teacher was already waiting with the fishbowl holding the statements they had to defend.

2:02. Their orals would start at 2:10. _Where the hell was she-he?_ Sakura thought. She had already picked their statement, _Sustainable development and technology can go hand in hand._

2:03. _Hello!?!?!_ Sakura felt like waving her hands in front of some random person's face. Instead, she just read her notes for that particular statement again.

2:04. Finally, finally the door opened. Taking a deep breath, calming herself so that she wouldn't shout at her partner the minute she saw him, and would calmly accept any apologies. But no apologies came. Her head shot up to see her partner…Li Syaoran.

Sakura blinked.

Syaoran blinked.

-

-

-

-

-

-

AN: I'm back! Teehee. I have also edited chapter 1. Go and check it out! And please review, so that I can have the inspiration to continue! Tell me what you think, reactions are very welcome! Thank you very much! Rhia.


End file.
